UP TO 45,000 APPLICATIONS FOR THE BACK TO SCHOOL CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR ALLOWANCE HAVE YET TO BE PROCESSED DUE TO THE SHEER VOLUME OF FAMILIES IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE.

THE DEPT OF SOCIAL PROTECTION HAS REDEPLOYED EXISTING STAFF IN ORDER TO PROCESS THE MOUNTAIN OF APPLICATIONS. AT LEAST 14 EXTRA STAFF ARE REQUIRED DESPITE THE FACT THAT AN AUTOMATED PROCESS WAS INTRODUCED THIS YEAR.

A SPOKESPERSON CONFIRMED THAT OF THE 66,000 CLAIMS RECEIVED, 20,600 CLAIMS HAVE BEEN PROCESSED OF WHICH 16,000 HAVE BEEN PAID, 1,400 HAVE BEEN REFUSED, 2,700 RETURNED BECAUSE THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION AND THE REMAINING 500 WERE DUPLICATE CLAIMS. THE COST OF THE BSCFA HAS BEEN RISING STEADILY IN THE LAST THREE YEARS. IN 2009 THE SCHEME COST €69M RISING TO €77.4M IN 2010 AND €82M HAS BEEN SET ASIDE TO MEET THE DEMAND THIS YEAR.